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It'll be another year before the Georgia Ports Authority can expect major funding for a long-sought Savannah harbor deepening project. The agency's director says, given the project and budget timelines, the best Georgia can hope for in the budget now before Congress is $600,000 requested by President Obama. That's enough to keep the project going but far less than the $100 million needed to start construction.

The man who orchestrated Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed's campaign has been tapped to help President Barack Obama win the South in 2012. A spokesman for Obama for America says Tharon Johnson has joined the campaign as the southern regional director and will be "a key part to building the organization" in the area.

General aviation industry officials say, 7,000 Georgians go to work everyday in their industry -- and that should be good reason to keep a tax break in place for the wealthy customers who buy private airplanes. Current federal budget negotiations have opened a torrent of criticism toward what some -- including President Obama -- characterize as a tax loophole for fat cats.

Governor Nathan Deal and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed are scheduled to be in Washington Wednesday. The bipartisan duo will be lobbying for more funds for the Savannah harbor deepening project. President Obama's most recent budget included a only small sliver of the $100 million dollars port officials want.

Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, has been killed by U.S. forces in what is being described as a surgical strike at a compound in northern Pakistan, ending one of the longest and costliest manhunts in history.

Georgia Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens says, he doubts the state would be able to opt-out of the federal health care law early. Some Georgia health care advocates agree, saying the provision was aimed at states like Vermont that already have near-universal coverage. A spokeswoman for Governor Nathan Deal, however, welcomed the flexibility and promised a plan.

The Obama administration has restored funding to a Georgia-based anti-terrorism unit. US Coast Guard officials proposed eliminating the Maritime Safety and Security Team in St. Marys as part of a nationwide force reduction. Local officials believe the effort to restore funding was successful because it also involved other communities.

President Obama's budget released this morning includes about $600,000 for the engineering phase of the Savannah harbor deepening. But that's only a fraction of the millions of dollars that state officials were seeking. State officials consider it the most important economic development project.